Using key ingredients of shibari

Using key ingredients

We believe that shibari is most easily understood by learning the key ingredients, e.g. frictions and single column variations, and how they are used, rather than simply learning ties by rote as recipes. Most people find it challenging to learn numerous steps of a tie. It is also very easy to forget steps or make mistakes if you are just learning parrot-fashion. There are rules for using the ingredients which can help you make decisions and spot mistakes.

Once you understand the ingredients, it becomes very easy to be creative and change your recipes. To continue the culinary parallel, if a recipe calls for brown sugar, you will know it is to sweeten the dish. If you don't know that, you will be stumped if you have no brown sugar in the larder. Of course, if you know its purpose, you can substitute another type of sugar or sweetener. The outcome will not be identical but it will be close or, possibly, better.

The purpose of these tutorials is to illustrate this principle and to familiarise you with the common ingredients of shibari. You will also see how they can be varied in the same type of tie or, on different parts of the body, to provide similar functionality but a different look. For example, the first wrap of a TK/gote is used in other of the examples, e.g. the arm binder. A TK/gote is, in essence, a collection of single column ties, albeit closed in different ways. At the wrists, it is a standard single column, whilst the upper wrap is usually closed with an X-friction and, the lower with a square one. This tutorial assumes that you are already familiar with the single and double column ties, which are shown in full detail in our other tutorials.

I used to use the analogy of the components of a Lego or Meccano set but I feel that the culinary simile is more accurate. Lego and Meccano are too rigid, whereas cooking implies greater creativity. Kits limit you to the way components are combined. Cooking allows the same ingredients to be combined but also to be prepared in different ways. Shibari is not just about patterns; the real secret is in how you make the tie feel. In other words, it is all in how you apply the rope. It could be soft and sensual, firm and decisive, hard and nasty or a combination of those techniques. It is so much more than mechanically combining the ingredients or components.

You are encouraged to practice the self-ties and, fundamentals like single and double column ties, to become familiar with the ingredients and to improve dexterity and muscle memory. Whilst, it might sound difficult, once you have mastered the steps, try with you eyes closed; it is a lot easier than it sounds and will help with developing muscle memory.